By Ken Hansard
Abby O’Connor, senior point guard for the Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougars, is understandably optimistic about her teams’ prospects on the advent of a new season, “I feel like this team is going to work well together. We worked a lot in the off-season on sharing the ball a lot more and touching multiple sides on an offensive possession to get a good shot.”
If the Cougars can make that preparation pay off, they have a good chance of improving on last season’s 12-8 finish, where they lost in the first round of substate. The hopes of the team will hinge largely on O’Connor, who is a third-year starter and has been top 10 in assists in the Sunflower League the past two seasons.
Abby understands that, as a point guard, it is her responsibility to lead on the court; however, as a senior, she also has a role to play imparting the team culture to the younger players. “I’m looking forward to being a leader and a big contributor to this team. My role is always to make the right play and shoot the ball when I’m open. I want to be more confident in taking shots, but more importantly, I have to be the leader for this team, whether that means leading vocally or by example.”
O’Connor has also played tennis and softball, a sport in which she is also an all-league performer. Additionally, she is a member of the Link Crew and the prestigious National Honors Society. She has earned an Academic Letter every year and will letter in 11 out of the 12 seasons in her high school career. She boasts an incredible GPA of 4.42. After high school, she plans to attend Southeast Community College to play softball and major in Business Management or Criminology.
